Waits for You
by Ryeloza
Summary: Lena Halliwell is determined to save her family and she'll do whatever it takes, even if it means reuniting her mother with Cole.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: **Welcome to the fifth installment of the "Alone, Eternally," series. It is not necessary to be familiar with the four stories that come before this one (if you are interested in reading them, please check my profile), but it would give you some background information for this story. Basically the one thing you have to know is that in my post-Forever Charmed universe, Coop and Phoebe have two children, Nora and Lena, and that Coop has died.

I really hope everyone enjoys this story. In a lot of ways, this story is a climax point in the series, and I hope that those of you that have been reading since the beginning won't be disappointed. Thanks for all of your support with this series! I'd love any feedback on this story too!

_Katie_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Charmed_. The end.

**Setting: **March 2025

**Waits for You**

sequel to **Hiding Underneath**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_Slow down you crazy child  
You're so ambitious for a juvenile  
But then if you're so smart tell me why  
Are you still so afraid?  
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?  
You better cool it off before you burn it out  
You got so much to do and only  
So many hours in a day_

-Billy Joel, "Vienna"

They were fighting. Again. Lena turned up her music to try to drown them out and tapped her pen against her chemistry book. She had read the same passage at least three times now, and she couldn't help but think that she should have gone to Aunt Paige's after school again. But yesterday Mom had said, "You've been over at Paige's a lot, lately. We miss you around here, kiddo." Lena hadn't been able to ignore that blatant, sincere attention, and so here she was.

What a fool she was for possibly believing that they'd get through an afternoon without Mom and Nora fighting. How did they miss her when they were too busy yelling at each other? At least at Aunt Paige's she could concentrate.

Just as Lena had decided to creep out and make her way over to Aunt Paige's, she heard a door slam, her mother yell, "Nora!" and then blessed silence. "Finally," she muttered. A moment later, though, her bedroom door opened and her mom walked in.

"I don't know what is wrong with your sister!" her mother said as she began to pace the floor. Resigned, Lena pulled off her earphones and sat up on the bed. She had learned that the best thing to do in these situations (whether it was her mother or sister) was to just let the other person vent.

"Why does she act that way?" Mom continued.

_According to Aunt Piper she's just like you were at that age_, Lena's brain supplied. In reality she remained steadfastly silent.

"I swear she's only doing these things to get under my skin! I just don't understand it, Lena! And I don't know what to do anymore! Has she said anything to you?"

"About what?" asked Lena, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"About why she's so angry with me," said Mom. She sighed. "Lena, it's more than just us fighting about this guy she's dating—"

"Tyler," supplied Lena.

"—or about how her grades are slipping or anything else. I certainly did worse things at her age! But she's mad at me, and I just can't figure out why."

"She hasn't said anything to me, Mom," said Lena. Truthfully, she'd noticed how oddly Nora had been acting. The older she got, the worse it seemed to be and Lena was certainly as fed up (or maybe more so) than her mother. Nora seemed determined to keep whatever was wrong bottled up inside of her and this was doing nothing than making things incredibly tense at home. Often, now, Lena wished she could just move in with Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry and be done with all the pain at home. She'd never, ever admit this to either Mom or Nora, though.

"You'd tell me if you knew, wouldn't you?" asked Mom.

"Sure," said Lena. "I'd tell you." _Anything to make things better here._

Mom smiled and sat down on the edge of Lena's bed, pushing a strand of dark hair behind Lena's ear. "I do love you, baby," she said. "I don't think I say it enough."

"I love you too, Mom," said Lena. She wanted to add something comforting, like she was sure Nora would come around or that things would get better soon, but the words seemed trite. _Probably because they're so untrue_, thought Lena.

"I'll let you get back to your homework," Mom said as she stood up. "What are you working on anyway?"

"Chem," said Lena.

Mom wrinkled her nose. "I always hated science," she said.

Lena smiled and shrugged, almost fearful to admit that she loved her science classes most of all. She almost felt that admitting it would only further highlight how different she was from the rest of the family. And she was positively sick of emphasizing her differences when all she wanted to do was fit in.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning, sweetie," said Mom.

"Goodnight," said Lena quietly.

* * *

At nearly two o'clock in the morning Lena was woken by the sound of her sister swearing. Annoyed, she sat up in bed and squinted at Nora in the darkness. "You're just getting home?" she hissed.

"Shhh!" said Nora even more loudly than Lena has spoken. She stumbled towards Lena's bed and half-collapsed on it, holding out a hand as if to cover Lena's mouth. Lena batted it away easily and said, "You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Just a little," said Nora, holding up her fingers just an inch apart.

"Ugh," said Lena. She ran her fingers through her hair and groaned. "What the hell is wrong with you, Nora?"

"Nothin'!" said Nora. "I just needed to get OUT OF HERE!"

"Shhh!" Lena said this time. "Please, Nora. You and Mom do not need to get into it right now."

"Mom doesn't even know I'm here," said Nora. "She thinks I'm at Mel's."

"Why aren't you at Meli's?" asked Lena. "Isn't that where you usually go to sleep this off?"

Nora flopped back on the bed so she was half-sprawled across Lena's legs and said, "Our cousin said she didn't want to deal with me tonight."

"I can't imagine why," Lena muttered.

"Mmm," said Nora.

"Oh no," said Lena, grabbing Nora's hand and tugging her towards the edge of the bed. "You are _not_ falling asleep on top of me!"

"Le-na!"

"No. No way. Get in your own bed!"

"Fine!" said Nora. She lurched into a sitting position and a moment later stood and fell towards her own bed.

"You're such a goon," said Lena. Sighing, she got out of bed and grabbed the afghan on the edge of Nora's bed to cover her sister. "Why do you do this to yourself, anyway?"

Nora didn't respond, and Lena sat down on the edge of the bed near her sister's shoulder. "I wish you and Mom could just get over whatever this is," she said. "You've been acting like a lunatic since Dad died."

"I miss Dad," said Nora.

"Yeah, well you're not the only one," said Lena. She sighed and dropped a quick kiss on her sister's temple. "I love you, nutcase."

"Love you," said Nora.

Lena slipped back into her own bed and lay on her side, looking at her sister's prone form. She knew already that sleep was not going to come back easily. Families weren't supposed to be like this. Her aunts' families weren't like this; why was hers? Nora was always talking now about how she couldn't wait to graduate and leave and never look back, but how was that going to help anything? Mom would be devastated and Lena knew, despite all the problems her sister caused, that she would miss her terribly. Running away couldn't possibly be the answer. It just couldn't.

_I just have to find the answer. I have to…_

_But I only have three months left…_

Lena fell asleep with this thought running through her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Setting: **March 2025

**Waits for You**

sequel to **Hiding Underneath**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_Slow down you're doing fine  
You can't be everything you want to be  
Before your time  
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight (tonight)  
Too bad but it's the life you lead  
You're so ahead of yourself  
That you forgot what you need  
Though you can see when you're wrong  
You know you can't always see when you're right (you're right)_

-Billy Joel, "Vienna"

"Meli!" said Lena. She ran down the hall to catch up with her cousin, not quite caring that she looked absolutely ridiculous running in the school, her backpack swaying dangerously on her back. "Mel!" she called again.

Lena's cousin turned, saw Lena coming and then said something to the group she was from before walking away with them towards Lena. Relieved, Lena stopped running and took a deep breath. "What's up, little Lena?"

Lena rolled her eyes at the nickname; she'd long ago given up trying to get Mel to drop it. Meli insisted that even if Lena was the tallest female in the family, she'd always be "little Lena" to her. "I need to talk to you," said Lena. She glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, and added, "About Nora."

"If she's still mad at me for telling her to go home last night—"

"No, no," said Lena, "nothing like that." Truthfully, she had no idea if Nora was mad or not; she'd still been passed out in bed when Lena left for school that morning. Maybe—probably—she should have told her mom that Nora was home and drunk, but she hadn't. She just couldn't bear the thought of another fight first thing in the morning.

"What's up then?" asked Meli.

"It's just…well, Nora's been a little different lately, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah," said Meli. "A little different is an understatement. She's…Well, I don't know."

"That's just it," said Lena. "You're her best friend, Mel. Do you really not know what's going on with her?"

Meli shrugged and glanced at the lockers across the hall. "Well Tyler's not the best influence."

"It's more than that and you know it," said Lena. "Mom thinks that Nora's mad at her about something and she can't figure out what. Do you know what it is?"

"Lena…"

"Then you do know!" said Lena.

Meli shook her head. "No, I don't. Not really. I…She…" Meli groaned. "This all happened like three years ago, Lena. She _has_ to be over it by now. It's got to be something else."

"Three years ago?" asked Lena. "What happened three years ago?"

"Nothing!"

"Mel!"

"No, seriously, Lena, it's not my secret to tell. If you want to know you have to ask Nora. And truthfully, I'm not even convinced that that's what's wrong."

Unwillingly, Lena felt herself suddenly blinking back tears. "All she and Mom do is fight now. I hate it! I don't even feel comfortable in my own home anymore. I stay at Aunt Paige's as often as I can. I just want things to go back to the way they were before Dad died!"

Meli's eyes widened significantly and she grabbed Lena's upper arm, pulling her into the nearest girl's bathroom. "Here," said Meli, ripping off nearly a mile of paper towels and handing them to Lena. "I…I didn't realize things were that bad, Lena. I mean, Nora's been complaining _a lot_ lately, but I didn't…I just thought…"

Lena sighed. "It's not just the fighting, Meli," she said. "I don't…I don't fit in there."

"What do you mean?" asked Meli, looking genuinely perplexed. "Of course you do."

"No, I don't," said Lena. "I…I love school! I study so hard because I want to be able to go to a good college. I'm fifteen and I've never even been on a date! I don't even look like the rest of the family!"

"Lena…"

"And I don't…I don't have…"

"Powers?" finished Meli.

"Yeah," said Lena. "Those."

"You might be better off without them," said Meli. "Sometimes they're a real pain in the ass. Sometimes, they cause you to learn things you'd be much better off not knowing."

Lena rubbed her eyes with the paper towels and asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," said Meli. "I'm just…babbling."

The bell rang and both Meli and Lena glanced at the door anxiously. It was strange, but in some ways Meli and Lena were quite similar. Of all of the kids in the family, they were known as the "good girls." Sometimes Lena wondered why they weren't closer; was it really just the two year age difference?

"We should go," said Lena.

"In a minute," said Meli. "Let's get you cleaned up first."

Lena gave her a small smile and went over to the sink to splash some water on her face. "Are you okay?" asked Meli, running a sympathetic hand between Lena's shoulder blades.

"Yeah…well, no, but things could get better, right?"

Meli handed her some paper towels to dry her face with and said, "Of course. And I'll talk to Nora for you, Lena."

"You don't have—"

"She's my best friend, Lena. It's about time I figured out what the heck is bothering her."

"Yeah, and she's my sister," said Lena.

Meli looked at her for a moment with an expression Lena couldn't read, and then said, "Well maybe we should talk to her together."

Lena laughed. "What, like an intervention?"

"Yeah," said Meli seriously. "Maybe if the two of us work together on her she won't just run away."

"I…guess that could work."

"Okay. So after school today?"

"Today?" said Lena. "Seriously?"

"No time like the present," said Meli. She smiled. "Cheer up, little Lena," she said, throwing an arm over her cousin's shoulders and planting a kiss on the side of her head. "We'll get through to her or die trying."

* * *

Lena caught up with Eliana at her locker before running off to meet up with Meli. With barely a pause she told Eliana that she wouldn't be going home with her, to tell Aunt Paige she'd see her soon, and that she had to go meet up with Meli. Eliana, not used to seeing Lena so frantic, had laughed and told her not to run anyone down as she hurried away.

She met Meli at her car and climbed in anxiously, sitting on her hands the whole way home. Meli was talking at great length about her European history class, but Lena was scarcely listening. All she could think was that maybe today she'd finally fix her sister. Maybe today they'd be able to have a family dinner and smile and laugh instead of fight and cry. Maybe today things would finally go back to normal.

"Lena?" said Meli.

"Hmm," said Lena, snapping out of her reverie. "Sorry."

"That's okay," said Meli. "I just asked if you think Nora is home."

"She should be," said Lena. "I won't be surprised if she's still in bed nursing a hangover."

"That'll make thing easier," said Meli, rolling her eyes.

As it turned out, they did find Nora in bed when they got home, and quite unfortunately, Tyler was with her. "Oh God!" said Lena, covering her eyes and turning around to face the door as they entered the bedroom.

"Oh!" said Meli, and she froze Tyler with one hand while covering her eyes with the other.

"What are you two doing here?" demanded Nora. Slowly, Lena turned around to face her sister. Nora, despite being pinned under Tyler's frozen form, had managed to pull the sheet up to her shoulders.

"We came to talk to you," said Meli. "And it's important, so can you get rid of Muscles here and make some time for us?"

Nora sighed loudly. "Fine. Just wait outside, will you? I'll be out in a minute."

"Well I could have gone my whole life without seeing that," said Meli once they had shut the bedroom door behind them.

"Yeah, me too," said Lena. "What does she see in him?"

"God only knows," said Meli.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and Nora walked out in her bathrobe. "Alright," she said. "Now what's the big emergency?"

"Where's lover boy?" asked Lena.

"He went out the window," said Nora, heading down the hall towards the living room. "So what's up?"

"We're worried about you, Nora," said Meli, and Lena's heart nearly burst in relief over not having to confront Nora alone. "You've been acting really weird lately. Today Lena asked me if I knew what was going on with you."

"So you're comparing notes?" asked Nora casually. Only someone who knew her well would notice the slight edge to her tone.

"Lena thinks you're mad at your mom about something and there's only one thing I can think of it being," continued Meli.

"Oh really?" said Nora, sitting down on the couch and crossing her arms over her chest. "And did you tell her what it is, Mel?"

"No," said Meli. "Of course not. But I think you should."

Nora shook her head. "No. No way." She glanced at Lena and then back to their cousin. "She doesn't want to hear that."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Nora," said Lena. "And I do want to know. If I can help you with something—"

"It'll just end up ruining your relationship with Mom, Lena. Trust me, you don't want that!"

Lena, uncharacteristically, fumed at Nora's words. Not usually one for confrontation, she suddenly felt every moment she had repressed anger at her sister and her mother swell inside of her, aching for release. "You're already ruining my relationship with Mom, Nora. So anything you tell me can't possibly make it worse."

For a moment, Nora's eyes softened, but then she said, "You don't know what you're talking about."

Meli shook her head. "Look, Nora," she said, "if you won't tell her, I will. She has a right to know."

Nora snorted. "Fine. If you two want it that way, then FINE!" Abruptly, Nora stood and stalked out of the room.

"Nora!" Lena called after her. She turned to Meli, expectantly, but before her cousin could do or say anything, Nora stormed back into the room carrying a wooden jewelry box. Without a word she wrenched the lid open and dumped out the contents all over the coffee table. Lena noticed some old papers, some pictures, a pair of baby booties and a rose before Nora snatched up one of the papers and shoved it into Lena's hands. "Here!" she shouted. "If you want to know so badly, look at it!"

With slightly shaking hands, Lena unfolded the piece of paper. To her surprise, it appeared to be a couple of pages from the Book of Shadows. "What is this?" she asked.

"Look at it," said Nora.

Lena glanced down at the papers in her hands; on one was a picture of a rather frightful looking demon and on the other were pictures of her mom with a man she'd never seen before. "What is this?" she asked again.

"This," said Nora, gesturing to the papers as well as the stuff scattered on the coffee table, "is our mother's little memory box of her relationship with her demonic ex-husband!"

"What?" said Lena while Meli simultaneously said, "Nora…"

"Yeah," said Nora. "It's some big secret, apparently. She dated some demon who was trying to kill her and then she _married_ him and they almost had a kid together and then he died."

"What?" said Lena, desperately trying to wrap her mind around Nora's words. Her mother had been married…to a _demon_?

"You heard me," said Nora. "And it's all some big secret apparently. I don't think Dad even knew about this little treasure trove of memories, here. She was probably in love with this _demon_ the entire time she was married to Dad, and Dad didn't even know it!"

"This," said Lena, bewildered, "_this_ is why you're mad at Mom?"

"Of course it is!" yelled Nora. "Why aren't you angrier? She's lied to us for our entire lives! She lied to Dad!"

"Nora," said Meli quietly.

"What, Mel?" screamed Nora. "Don't even give me one stupid comment or platitude about this because you know nothing about it! You and your _perfect_ family with your parents who _adore_ each other! You have no idea what this is about!"

"Nora," said Meli again, though her voice shook a little now as though she was trying to hold back tears. "I had no idea that you were still so upset about this. You…after we found out you never mentioned it. I thought…I don't know…"

"When did you find out about this?" asked Lena, still holding the papers in shaking hands.

"Freshman year," said Nora. "Right before homecoming."

"You never said anything," said Lena, somewhat hurt. How could her sister not have confided this, of all things, to her?

"Why should I?" asked Nora. "Mom never did!"

"Nora," said Meli, "you've been holding this inside for way too long. You need to talk to someone about it. You need to talk to your mom."

"Don't tell me what I need, Meli," said Nora. "You have no idea what I need."

"But you're making assumptions," said Meli. She turned to Lena, imploringly. "She doesn't know that your mom still loves Cole. That she loved him the whole time she was married to your dad. All she knows is that they used to be in love, _years ago_."

"Why else would she keep it a secret?" snapped Nora.

"I don't know," said Meli with an edge to her voice. "Why don't you _ask her_?"

Nora threw up her hands in frustration.

"Lena," said Meli. "Please."

Lena shook her head. She felt like she was drowning, trying desperately to find her way to the surface to take a breath. "I…I don't know."

Nora snorted.

"I really don't," said Lena, turning to Meli with wide eyes. "I don't know what the answer is here."

"The answer is to talk!" said Meli. "No one in this family talks! That's the problem here!"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" snapped Nora. "Being part of the perfect family and all!"

Meli finally lost it, her eyes spilling over with tears. "We're part of the same family, Nora. And I can't stand to see you guys falling apart like this! We're supposed to stick together!"

"Just go home, Meli," said Nora, shaking her head. "This is between me and Lena now. We'll decide what to do."

Meli turned to Lena imploringly, but Lena couldn't help but to agree with her sister. Meli was wrong; this was about her and Nora and their mom, not anyone else. "Maybe you should go home," said Lena quietly.

Meli bit her lip and nodded. "Fine," she said, snatching her backpack off of the chair she had dumped it on. "Fine! Cut me out like I haven't been your cousin since the day I was born! Like we haven't been through thick and thin together! Like you're not the closest thing I've ever had to a sister! Like you didn't COME TO ME and force me to help you find out the truth! Like you," she pointed at Lena, "didn't come to me crying this morning because Nora's been such a bitch lately!" Meli stormed to the door and then turned back around to face them once more. "I've always been there for you guys and I never asked you for anything! As far as I'm concerned you can both go to hell!" And Meli wrenched open the door, slamming it behind her as she left.

"She doesn't," said Nora, shaking her head, "…she doesn't understand."

Lena nodded, though she suddenly wasn't quite as convinced. Maybe Meli was right. Maybe they really should just sit down and ask Mom to tell them the truth. She sighed. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

Nora narrowed her eyes. "Nothing," she said. "There's nothing to do except wait to grow up and get the hell out of here!"

"Mom loves us," said Lena, trying hard to swallow the lump in her throat. "Mom loves you."

"So?" said Nora. "Mom was supposed to love Dad too."

Lena sank down into one of the chairs and rested her forehead against her knees. "We can't just go on like this, Nora. We have to find an answer."

"There is no answer to this," said Nora. "Trust me, I've spent years trying to think of one."

"Maybe…" Lena sat up and looked at her sister. "Did you ever think about trying to use…magic?"

Nora rolled her eyes. "Use magic to do what? Make me forget what I learned? No thank you."

"No," said Lena. "I mean, couldn't you cast a spell to help you find an answer. To help us…you…heal your relationship with Mom?"

"No," said Nora. "I'm not doing that. I'm staying here for three more months and then I am out of here, Lena. Do you hear me?"

"Nora," said Lena, tears finally falling. "Nora, please. Can't you try? For me?"

Nora sighed loudly, looking from her sister to the floor to the ceiling and then finally back to Lena. "Fine," she said. "I'll try for you."

"Thank you," said Lena.


	3. Chapter 3

**Setting: **March 2025

**Waits for You**

sequel to **Hiding Underneath**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_You got your passion, you got your pride  
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?  
Dream on but don't imagine they'll all come true  
When will you realize  
Vienna waits for you?_

-Billy Joel, "Vienna"

Lena convinced Nora to begin working on the spell right away, but she felt extremely awkward. This was the first time she'd ever been directly involved in any spell cast by her family and she really didn't have anything to contribute. To make matter worse, Nora kept opening her mouth to ask a question before realizing that Lena would not have the answer. Lena knew that Nora was wishing—as she was—that Meli was there to help.

"You're going to have to hold on to me the whole time," said Nora. "I think the magic can include you in showing us what we need to do, but I'm afraid if you don't hold on to me you'll lose the connection."

"Okay," said Lena. A stab of nervousness ran up her spine. Despite growing up around magic and seeing it every day, actually participating in it was a whole other story.

Nearly a half an hour later, Nora put down her pen and patted the spot next to her on the couch. "Come here," she said, "and hold hands with me."

Lena did as she asked, taking a seat on Nora's left and clasping her hand. Nora smiled at her briefly, somewhat quelling Lena's fears, and then began to read the spell.

"Spirits of our family past/Come help us heal our family present/Reveal the secret now, fast/And spare us further pain/Help us find a way to be together/Now, and forever."

Lena felt the spell begin to work immediately; there was a bright light she had to shut her eyes against and her insides felt as though they were turning to liquid. She wanted to ask Nora if that was normal, but she couldn't even open her mouth. After what felt like hours, the sensations stopped and Lena opened her eyes feeling weak. "Don't let go of me," Nora said immediately, and Lena was glad for the reminder. She tightened her grip on Nora's hand.

"We're at Aunt Piper's," said Lena surprised. She glanced at Nora. "What are we doing here?"

"I don't know," said Nora.

"But—"

To Lena's shock, a very pregnant Aunt Piper suddenly came through the door and walked right through her as though she wasn't even there. "What?" she said to Nora, shocked. "How…?"

"It's the spell," said Nora. "We're just here to observe."

"Observe what?"

"I _don't_ _know_, Lena."

Suddenly there was a scream, and Lena jumped, fear coursing through her body. Immediately, Nora began to drag her towards the sound, but Lena tried with all her might to resist. She absolutely did not want to see what was going on.

"Come on," hissed Nora. "This was your idea!"

Reluctantly, Lena went with her sister; they ended up in the kitchen where Aunt Piper was slouched on the floor, shaking and covered in blood. "Oh my God!" said Lena. "Oh my God! Nora!"

"Lena," said Nora calmly, though Lena could feel her hand shaking, "we know it's going to turn out okay. Aunt Piper is fine at home. And our cousin, whichever one it is, is fine too."

Lena nodded, but truthfully all she could picture was the tiny coffin that had held her baby sister when she died so many years ago. This whole thing was too much; this whole thing was not at all what she had expected. Unbidden, Meli's voice entered her mind: "Sometimes, powers cause you to learn things you'd be much better off not knowing." Maybe Meli was right.

Aunt Piper began to pull herself slowly towards the phone and Lena bit her lip, trying hard not to cry. Fortunately or not, she wasn't sure, she was suddenly distracted by the same man she had just seen in pictures with her mother dashing through Nora into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" asked Lena.

Nora didn't respond.

"Hang on, Piper," said Cole quietly. "I got Wyatt. He'll be back with Leo any minute now. Please just hang on."

To Lena's surprise, Aunt Piper didn't even seem to realize that Cole was there. Was he there? Maybe he was a ghost. Hadn't Nora said he had died? Lena wanted to blurt out every question she had, but Nora looked pale beside her.

For the next half an hour or so, Lena watched trembling as Wyatt appeared with Uncle Leo, the paramedics were called and Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry showed up. All the while, she was well aware of Cole standing in the room, apparently invisible to everyone. The entire time, the only words Nora spoke were when Aunt Piper mentioned the date; "It's Meli," she whispered and she squeezed Lena's hand tighter.

Suddenly the scene changed before their eyes and they found themselves in the conservatory with Cole and Wyatt and Chris, both of whom were mere babies. It was odd to see her older cousins this way, and if the whole situation hadn't been so frightening so far, Lena might have laughed. Then, to her further shock, Cole began to talk to Wyatt and Wyatt actually responded.

"What?" said Lena, looking down at Nora. "I thought he was invisible or a ghost or something!"

"I…I don't know…" said Nora.

"I was wondering, Wyatt," Cole was saying, "if you could make me visible. Bring me to life."

"No," gasped Nora. "He didn't…he's not…"

"Oh my God," said Lena, the truth dawning on her even as it unfolded before her eyes. Cole, whatever form of apparent death he was in as they saw him now, was about to come to life. "Wyatt wouldn't," said Lena desperately. "He wouldn't!"

But he did. Moments later, Wyatt performed magic right in front of their eyes; magic that brought Cole back to life.

But this was nearly eighteen years ago. What had happened to Cole since then?

As if to answer her unspoken question, the scene changed again, and she and Nora were suddenly outside of their old apartment, the one they hadn't lived in since Meda was born. It was raining, and Cole was staring up at the window of their apartment, looking shell-shocked. Suddenly, Lena's hopes soared. If Cole had gone in there, if he had talked to Mom and she had told him to go away and leave her alone, then that meant that she really was over Cole. That she didn't love him! And Nora, finally, might be able to forgive their mom. Lena crossed the fingers on the hand not holding Nora's and held her breath. _Please, please, please_, she chanted.

Cole was still staring up at the window and Lena did too. Instinctively, she took a step forward, as though to enter the apartment building, because up in the window she could see her dad. Her wonderful, amazing dad who she hadn't seen or spoken to in five years. Suddenly she couldn't care less about Mom and Cole or the fighting or anything else; she just wanted to go hug her dad.

Her reverie was violently interrupted by Cole suddenly bursting into a fit. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Cole screamed. He kicked the wall, and Lena jumped. "Fuck!" Then, as suddenly as his anger erupted, it stopped, and Cole collapsed, sobbing against the wall.

Lena opened her mouth to ask Nora what she made of the situation, but suddenly the scene changed again and they found themselves in a hospital. Cole was standing in front of them holding a baby and it took only a moment before Lena realized that it was Meli.

"Hi, Prudence," said Cole softly, and Lena smiled at the misuse of Mel's name. "I'm your uncle Cole."

He bent, kissing Meli's head and bouncing her a little. Lena glanced at Nora with huge eyes; did Aunt Piper know about this? "You won't ever see me again," Cole continued. "But I wanted to see you, just once. You're my only niece, you know.

"I really wanted to see your cousin too, but there was no way. She was going to be my daughter."

Nora made a disgusted noise, but Lena bit her lip. Somehow, knowing that Cole quite obviously never had seen their mother and disrupted their parents' lives, made Lena feel bad for him now. Even if he used to be a demon, or still _was_ a demon, or whatever, he obviously cared a lot; for Phoebe, Meli _and_ Nora.

"Oh, and remember," Cole was now saying to Meli, "if you ever hear anything bad about me...well, a lot of it is probably true, actually. Still, remember I love you and your brothers and your aunt and even, I guess, your parents. But don't tell them I said so. Your mommy will never let me live it down."

Lena nearly laughed, but choked it back because Nora was standing right next to her, obviously seething. Seconds later, the world dissolved again and they were standing outside a huge, beautiful house that Lena had never seen before. Before she could even wonder where they were, Cole, somewhat older, came out of the house wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. Then, in their clasped hands, a piece of paper appeared out of nowhere. Without either of them having a chance to glance at it, they suddenly found themselves back in their apartment.

Nora immediately wrenched her hand away, and Lena just managed to hold on to the paper. "I knew this was a bad idea," Nora hissed. "That didn't help us with anything! What was that supposed to tell us?"

Lena shrugged, though she actually had a fairly decent idea of what it meant. She glanced down at the paper in her hand; on it was an address in Phoenix, Arizona.

"Stupid spell!" Nora continued to rant. "I should never have tried this on my own!"

"The spell was fine," said Lena, though she really had no idea.

Nora threw up her hands and then gave Lena a shrewd look. "What's on that paper anyway?" she demanded.

"An address," said Lena, still not looking up from the paper.

"Whose address?"

Lena shrugged. "I think…" She looked up at her sister. "I think its Cole's."

"Cole's! Why would we need Cole's address?"

"Maybe…I don't know," said Lena. "Maybe we're supposed to go talk to him. Or…"

"Or what?" asked Nora.

"Or tell Mom."

"No way!" said Nora. "We don't need him in our lives! _Mom_ doesn't need him in her life! He could be dangerous! He IS dangerous!"

"Nora…"

"No! Give me that address, Lena!" Nora rushed towards her, but Lena for once could use her height as an advantage; she held the paper high above her head even as Nora tried to tackle her for it.

"Don't touch it, Nora! I'm serious!"

"Why not? We don't need it!"

"Yes, we do," said Lena. "The spell gave it to us for some reason!"

"We're not bringing him into our lives! We're not!"

"Nora!" shouted Lena, shoving her sister back so she could actually look in her eyes. She took a deep breath. "He's already in our lives. Maybe not physically, but his presence is everywhere. It's destroying your relationship with Mom! You have to acknowledge that and let go!"

"I can't let go if I have to fear you finding him and bringing him permanently back into our lives, Lena. Don't you realize that?"

Lena bit her lip and slowly nodded. "Okay," she said. "I guess that makes sense."

Nora nodded too. "Good," she said. "So you'll throw that away?"

"Yeah," said Lena, crumpling it into a ball. "Of course." She walked to the kitchen, Nora watching her every step, and opened the trash can. For a second, she stared at the paper, and then, closing her eyes, pretended to throw it into the trash. "Okay," she said. "It's gone."

"Good riddance," said Nora, as Lena stuck her hands into her pockets to discreetly let go of the note. She wasn't sure—she had no idea—if she would actually go find Cole herself or tell her mother or even ever use the address for anything. But she was sure that she couldn't just throw it away. The spell had showed them all of that for a reason; what if it really did have something to do with healing their family?

Lena couldn't just throw that away on her sister's whim.

Hopefully, though, Nora was right, and she'd just get over everything they had learned.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: **Consider this a sort of epilogue to this story. I really hope you enjoy it!

_Katie_

**Setting: **July 2025

**Waits for You**

sequel to **Hiding Underneath**

a story by **Ryeloza**

_And you know that when the truth is told  
That you can get what you want  
Or you can just get old  
You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through_

_Why don't you realize Vienna waits for you?  
When will you realize Vienna waits for you?_

-Billy Joel, "Vienna"

Lena paced back in forth in her bedroom, trying to work up the courage to go into the living room and face her mom. As horribly awkward as things had been with all of the fighting just a couple of months ago, they seemed so much worse now. She and her mother didn't seem to have anything to say to each other, and with Nora gone things seemed too quiet.

With Nora gone, it didn't feel like home.

Lena felt like such a fool now for believing that Nora really could just get past everything she had kept buried for years. The pain was quite obviously still there, though Nora had clearly been making more of an effort not to fight with Mom for Lena's sake. Somehow, that had made it all the worse though when Lena woke up the day after Nora's eighteenth birthday to find only a note on her pillow saying she was gone. "Don't bother to try to find me," she had written. "I don't want to be found." Those words had flitted through Lena's mind every day since then.

She had been crushed. Meli, who Nora was only on okay terms with by then, was distraught. Somehow, she seemed to think Nora's running away was entirely her fault. Seeing that had been the last straw for Lena; she realized once and for all that she had to do something to fix this situation. And she knew exactly what she had to do; just what Meli had suggested months ago: talk to her mom.

Taking one last deep breath, Lena opened the door and crept into the hallway. She found her mom sitting on the floor by the coffee table, typing on her laptop. "Mom?" said Lena quietly. Her mom looked up from her laptop and gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"What's up, kiddo?" she asked as she took off her glasses.

Lena sighed. "I…I've been debating about whether or not to give this to you and I finally just decided I should."

"What is it?" asked Mom.

Lena reached into her back jeans pocket and pulled out the piece of paper she'd been carrying with her since March. Carefully, she handed it to her mother and then bit her lip nervously. Mom furrowed her forehead, clearly confused, and after a moment unfolded the paper. "What is this?" she asked. Suddenly she looked up, a light in her eyes that Lena hadn't seen in too long. "Is this where Nora is? Do you know where your sister is?"

"No, Mom," said Lena quickly. "I don't know where Nora is."

"Oh," said Mom, the life draining from her face as quickly as it had appeared. "Well then whose address is this?"

Lena took a deep breath. "That's where Cole is."

Her mother looked at her sharply, one thousand emotions flitting across her face at one time. "Cole?" she said in a highly distrustful, skeptical voice.

"Yeah, Mom," said Lena. "It's about time you knew. He's alive. Cole is alive."

* * *

**A/n:** Thank you so much for all of the feedback on this story! I hope those of you that have been following this from the beginning feel like this chapter was worth the wait. The next story ("Guide You Home") should be up relatively soon. It will most likely be longer than the previous ones have been.

I may do an interlude about Nora running away at some point in time. I've dabbled with writing this before, so maybe someday it will be posted here.

Again, thank you all so much!

_Katie_


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